The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-01-30

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the matched huts of the natives are
much better for the climate, as they
are cooler and shed the rain in the
wet season, which the royal rool will
not.
His Majesty and the rest of the
family either sleep in hammocks or
on the floor, and they always go to
bed with their clothes on. Such a
tningas a nigntgown was never heard
of, and if the Queen or the dowager
should receive present of one she
would doubtless keep it as a party
dress, as it would be so much better
in texture and pattern than the gar
ment she wears during the day. Her
costume is invariably speckled cal
leo gown, such as one would pay
cents a yard Tor in the United States,
and she never wears but one at time.
This dress she wears night and day
until it is worn out, and often longer,
and there is nothing else between it
and her skin. More than one gar
ment is considered superfuous, aud
that is often abbreviated. The ladies'
of the royal family, as well as the
men, do not have any shoes and
stockings, and would not wear them
if they had. They go barefooted
from infancy to age, and the
first ten years of their lives they 90
barefooted up to their ears. The
King wears a white cotton shirt and
pair of pautaloons of the same
material, and is considered quite
well dressed. Most Of his subjects
omit the suit; and it is more common
than otherwise for men and women
both to go the year around naked to
the waist.
The pigs, the chickens and the
babies all stand on an equality in the
palace, and it is a question which
fares best. The heir to the throne
of Mosquito has to struggle for his
bread; he does not sit at mahogany
table and eat it with golden spoon
off silver plate, but has it flung to
him as he crawls on the floor, and if
he doesn t grab it quickly the pigs or
the chickens will get it first. The
King does not ride in chariot, nor
is he waited upon by lordly looking
servants IN livery. He walks when
he goes anywhere, and hasn't seen
any vehicles but an OK cart since he
came from Jamaica, nearly twenty
years ago. His wife and mother do
their own cooking, and use an iron
kettle hanging over fire outdoors
for every dish, just as farmers wives
in the Uni States make soap.
His Majesty seldom gets beef
steak, and | doubt if he knows what
lamb chop is; but he is fond of
monkey meat, and eats it as often
and likes it just as well as we do
chicken. And he has an abundance
of what we in the United States con-
slider one of the greatest Injuries,
green turtles. At Blewields for 81
one can buy turtles enough to give
100 people a hearty meal, and the
meat is as delicious as mortals ever
tasted.
Besides monkeys and turtles, the
King has plenty OF oysters to eat,
with breadfruit, bananas and great
many other delicious fruits that we
know nothing about, as they are SO
delicate that they cannot be brought
away from the country. He smokes
cigarettes constantly, while his wife,
the queen, and his mother, the
dowager, smoke cigars when they
can get them. The ladies of the
family cannot read, and there is
small chance OF the little princesses
and princes learning, unless they go
to the Moravian school.
The Moravians, or United Breth-
ren, have several missions in the
Mosquito Kingdom, and they have
done great deal Of good there.
They hive got many of the Indians
to improve their style Of living-to
wear clothes, to be neat and modest,
temperate and industrious. The ma
tives have found out that they can
be a great deal more comfortable
and happier by adopting the fashions
of civilized people, aud are now get
ting anxious to have their children
20 to school instead of wallowing
around in the dirt all day.
The Mosquitoes have some queer
customs. They do not have any
wedding, as we do, but the little
boys and girls are betrothed by their
parents when they are 10 OF II years
old. The boy, as soon as his wife is
selected, goes to her fathers house
to live and remains there until they
are married; unless it happens that
they do not like each other, in which
case he goes to his old home, and his
father looks for some other girl. This
way has its advantages, as the hus-
band and wife have chance to get
acquainted before they are married.
Their funerals are quite as curious.
When any one dies the place Of bur-
ial is at once selected, and a cotton
thread or chord is stretched from
the grave to the house, no matter
how far it may be or what obstacles
are in the road. After the burial
everything that belonged to the dead
person is burned, and if he owned
any animals they are killed over the
grave, as the people believe the
dead need all they had in this world
in the other. They never speak of |
the dead, and do not think of them
if it is possible to forget. The be-
lief is that to speak of a dead man
will awaken his spirit. The widows
and the widOwers marry again as
soon as they can, often the same day
as the funeral, as that, they think,
will assist them to forget the dead.
NO TINE LIKE THE Old TINE.